Can you really eat well on a $200 grocery budget? Well, actually, yes you can! Here’s the cheap menu plan that our family of 5 enjoys.
If you are new to these menu plans of mine, it’s probably helpful to know a couple of things first:
- Our family of five consists of two adults with fairly big appetites, a 7-year-old boy, a 3 ½-year-old girl and a 22-month-old girl.
- I buy lots of fruits and veggies in bulk from local farmers/orchards in the summer and then freeze or can them. This is not only much cheaper it is also healthier too. But that is why if you look at my Weekly Spending Summaries you won’t always see lots of produce.
- I have a stockpile. My cupboards are full from previous shopping and here’s why. When I can get pasta for free with coupons, I buy as much as I have coupons for. If I’m able to get flour for $0.50/bag like I did last fall, I’ll buy half a dozen and put them in the freezer to use as needed. I do this as much as my budget allows, on as many items as I can, and as a result, save lots of money. Then when I go to plan menus, I simply plan our meals around what I already have in my cupboards and freezer, as much as possible. Obviously, I still might have to buy a few things at regular price here and there, but by stocking up when the price is at rock bottom I save a lot.
- I cook almost totally from scratch. That means when I make a cake, I rarely use a cake mix. I make my own bread totally from scratch. I rarely use pre-packaged sauces. I make my own cream soups and pie crusts. Making your own food is typically less expensive and healthier too.
- We rarely snack. By eating “heavy” food like granola at breakfast we don’t get hungry until lunchtime. And the same goes for the afternoon. Our lunches are big enough that we usually are fine until dinner time. When we do need a snack, I try to keep it mostly healthy by offering fruit, nuts or maybe No Bake Energy Bites. We don’t always do it perfectly though and sometimes end up having chips or cookies instead.
- Our breakfasts consist of Easy Homemade Granola or Baked Oatmeal, the occasional bought cereal that I was able to get for $0.50/box and sometimes some fruit too. I know that might seem awfully boring to some of you, but we actually all really enjoy it and prefer it over other breakfast food. I also have a homemade iced latte, homemade frappe or some other fun beverage every morning. It’s just one of the little things that I do to add a bit of sunshine to my days!
Below you will find our lunches and dinners. (If we ate something other than our usual breakfast, I’ll note that too.) Monday through Friday, 2 days a week the lunches are just for the two youngest and I, the other 3 days my husband joins us.
Our son gets lunch at school and 3 days a week my husband takes a packed lunch with him to school/work. His lunch typically consists of sandwiches, fruit, homemade yogurt and sometimes random leftovers too.
Cheap Menu Plan Ideas
WEEK 1
Sunday
- Ham Loaf (comes pre-made- I just make a glaze for it); Baked Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes; Peas; Homemade Applesauce
- Invited to a gathering of my husband’s cousins- took some Peanut Butter Finger bars along (similar to this recipe)
Monday
- Various Leftovers; Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Apple Goodie (my recipe is similar to this one); Turkey Hill Ice Cream
– The Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is amazing! I tweaked the recipe a bit to work with what I had on hand. Basically, I used milk instead of cream, shredded cheddar for the cheese and corn chips instead of the corn tortillas.
Tuesday
- Leftover Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup; Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Beef Macaroni Skillet; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Peanut Butter Fingers
Wednesday
- Various Leftovers; Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Amish Turkey Stuffing; Peas; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
Thursday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Homemade Yogurt; Banana; Home Canned Peaches
- Salsa Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce
Friday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Vegetable Beef Soup; Lettuce Salad; Classic French Bread; Blonde Brownies (from the freezer)
Saturday
- Various Leftovers; Homemade Yogurt; Banana; Home Canned Peaches
- Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Alfredo sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken, tomatoes and caramelized onions); Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
– This homemade crust recipe is awesome! Not only does it need no time to rise, you can have it ready to go in the oven in 30 minutes! And it’s really tasty too. The only thing I do differently is pre-bake the crust a bit before putting on the toppings.
WEEK 2
Sunday
- Invited away for lunch- took along Pumpkin Crunch Cake
- Eggs; Easy Fruit Smoothie
Monday
- Leftover Chicken Alfredo Pizza; Homemade Yogurt; Oranges; Home Canned Peaches
- Asiago Bisque; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Pumpkin Crunch Cake
– The Asiago Bisque was a new recipe for me and since I had recently gotten a bunch of Asiago cheese really cheap, I thought I’d try it. I was rather disappointed with it- it was just really bland. But after I made it, I read through the comments on the blog where I got the recipe from and there were different people that said that they loved it! So if you aren’t into super flavorful food, I’m guessing you would enjoy it. We’re just more fans of food with lots of flavors going on.
Tuesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Speedy Spanish Rice and Ground Beef Skillet; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Wednesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Homemade Yogurt; Oranges; Bananas
- Sour Cream Chicken Quiche; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce
Thursday
- Thanksgiving Day!- we spent the day with family
Friday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Homemade Yogurt; Oranges; Frozen Blueberries
- Leftover Sour Cream Chicken Quiche; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce
Saturday
- Spent the day with family- took Baked Oatmeal and Gold Rush Breakfast Casserole (my recipe is similar to this)
Cherie moss
Why do you not post the actual recipe, instead of one almost like it?
ThriftyFrugalMom
Cherie, whenever a recipe that I use is not one that I’ve found online or not one that I’ve already posted on my blog (in other words, it’s from a cookbook or from a friend etc.), then as a way to help my readers out, I try to find a similar recipe online so that they can use it. I have lots of recipes that I want to post here on my blog, but obviously my time is limited. So I figure that linking to a similar recipe is better than linking to none, right? 🙂